RESIDENTS PITCH DESIGNS FOR TRANSPORTATION CENTER

Open design, restaurants, commercial spaces get heavy support in San Ysidro

SAN YSIDRO 
The multipurpose room at Willow Elementary School looked like a craft fair, but it was adults instead of kids playing with the markers, posters, plastic figures and even Legos.

SANDAG, Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transit System were hosting the second of four public workshops on the design for a new Intermodal Transportation Center at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The March 13 meeting was part of an ongoing study to improve access and traffic flow at the transit center, which serves trolleys, taxis, buses and pedestrians at the busy border crossing. The transit center is separate from the recently revamped port of entry for private vehicles and pedestrians.

Consultants shared results from a survey conducted at the first public workshop in January before putting attendees to work on their own models of what the new center could look like.

Joe Charest, vice president of San Diego-based consultant Katz & Associates, said it is clear from the survey that residents are enthusiastic about the project and favor an open-air design. He shared quotations from the surveys that called for something “iconic and efficient for all modes of travel” that will be both “grand and functional.”

“Across a wide section of community members, a good portion of you think this is an extremely essential facility,” Charest said. “We’re not just talking about essential; we’re talking about extremely essential. That bodes well for the process we’re going through and where that will end up.”

He said 90 percent of those surveyed felt it was critical for trolley and bus services to continue, and most said they would prefer to keep the facilities at street level, rather than above or below ground. Three-quarters want an open-space design with a plaza, and the same number said the center should have restaurant options.

A 78 percent majority said they feel it is “extremely important” to have shops and other commercial space at the new center, and 74 percent said paid parking facilities are a must. Other amenities they hope to see include public art, shaded areas and benches, Charest said.

Charest added that most said access to the freeway will be important for the center.

“That certainly is an area where, if you’re familiar with the area as we all are, traffic congestion is a pretty significant problem to be solved,” he explained.

Ron Golem, of BAE Urban Economics, broke down the site’s potential for retail, lodging, meeting and office space, based on studies and surveys of the transit center over the years.

Traffic at the border should be able to support between 30,000 and 150,000 square feet of retail space by 2020, he said.

Most of the shops and restaurants would need to be small, he said, because the average traveler will spend between 50 cents and $2 per day.

His data also suggest a 75-room hotel with substantial meeting space could do very well at the site, he said, adding that other possible uses at the site include a Southwestern College campus, a charter school and small offices for companies involved in cross-border trade.

Golem said that whatever design the community and consultants settle on will have to be phased in over time, and he urged residents to focus on making the new center a pleasant space that others want to be in.

“They don’t want just a building to meet their needs,” he said. “They want a place they enjoy being.”

The 50 or so attendees then broke out in groups to design their ideal Intermodal Transportation Center. Resident Miguel Aguirre didn’t need the plastic figures and foam core boards that the consultants provided, though. He brought in his own colorful Lego model, which measured about 4 feet long and 2 feet tall, complete with a subterranean element, a rooftop park and three towers for residential, hotel and office use. The design, which he says reflects what the community wants, is “destination-oriented” and includes more than 350,000 square feet of shops.

“I don’t agree with the survey results,” he explained. “I think they’re being very conservative.”

Community Planning Group member Matthew Paredes said that the transit center is a unique feature of the San Ysidro community, which is why so many care deeply about its future.